Ever (2014) Reviews

• If "Ever" There Was One

  christian-nicholson2015-01-12

  Josh Becks indie film Ever aired on April 26th 2014, with Wendy McColm as Ever and Christina Elizabeth Smith as Emily this film has a rudimentary and at times unrealistic view of human nature and relationships. These times are made apparent when the dialog with others seems choppy and unrealistic, as well as, when discussions of sexual preference become more seemingly attune to the dreams of a straight man, rather than the awkwardly inexorable things they are. These human inconsistencies continue throughout the film, but, for some reason I can't help but be endlessly absorbed by this films fantasy like character. The soundtrack to this film is meticulously composed, allowing the complexities of songs like; "Ghost" Sir Sly, "Evergreen" Akw, "Breakers" Local Natives, and "Let It Happen" by Silver Swans (a personal favorite of mine) lace the characters together, impregnating each with the soul of the music. With a budget of merely $12,000 US it is easy to cast aside this piece as if it is not worthy of the ranks. In many ways I beg to differ, I would like to see any filmmaker make such a promising film from such a budget. In fact I looked up every low budget production I found worthy of praise, Wong Kar Wai had marginally larger budgets, Spike Jonze had around $13,000,000 for Being John Malkovich, Wes Anderson had $7,000,000 for Bottle Rocket, and Sofia Coppola had 4,000,000 for Lost In Translation. Finally the only film I could think of, that I have seen, with a lower budget than Ever was Pink Flamingos which John Walker made on a budget of $10,000 in 1972 which with inflation would make it a budget of nearly $50,000; even Xavier Dolan who spends notoriously small amounts on his films spends an average of around $60,000USD spends more than Beck had whilst making his film. My point being that with the budget that Beck had he makes a worthy member of any list I can think of. Even if there is a sense of impracticality there is always something to work from and there are not many people who are brave enough to do with their dreams what John Beck has done here.